Educational Benefits and Officer-Commissioning Opportunities Available to U.S. Military Servicemembers
Abstract
The U.S. military has undergone significant changes since the drawdown of forces began in the late 1980s. Although personnel levels have decreased by approximately 30 percent since 1987 (the height of military spending and personnel levels in the 1980s), the requirement for attracting high-quality individuals has not. In fact, many in the services contend that the exact opposite has occurred: The drawdown has placed even greater emphasis on recruiting good people to serve in the military. In reality, the percentage of high-caliber servicemembers has increased steadily over the years as evidenced by educational attainment levels and Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores. It is not clear whether or not this increase in quality is due solely to the supply side or the demand side of the accessions' equation: The supply of quality accessions has increased during the same time because the combined pool of high school and college graduates from which to draw is larger, and the military has raised its standards for recruiting higher-quality individuals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA512073
Entities
People
- Michael R. Thirtle
Organizations
- RAND Corporation